Recent headlines will feel familiar to many landlords.
From senior politicians urging tougher action, to new funds designed to help tenants challenge landlords, the tone of the conversation is becoming increasingly one-sided.
But at a time when the Private Rented Sector (PRS) is already shrinking, it raises a serious question:
What do policymakers think will happen to the landlords who remain? Can’t they see what affect it is having on the PRS and the good landlords they should want to protect?
A growing pattern: “Take on landlords”
The latest comments from prominent politicians add to a growing trend.
- Angela Rayner has reportedly urged Keir Starmer to “pick more fights” with landlords and private companies, aligning the party with voters demanding change
- In London, Sadiq Khan has launched a £400,000 fund to help tenants challenge landlords, alongside calls for rent controls
- Tenant groups are pushing for even more intervention, including legal “fighting funds” to pursue landlords through the courts
- Elsewhere, proposals such as compulsory purchase of rental homes have been floated to deal with poor housing conditions
While some of these ‘fights’ are being justified as “targeting rogue landlords”; the number of great landlords with very happy tenants who are leaving the PRS as a result of the ongoing campaign against ALL landlords should be a wake-up call to policy makers to end this type of rhetoric.
👉 And collectively, they reinforce a broader narrative – landlords are a problem to be solved, rather than part of the solution.
The missing context: a shrinking PRS and opportunist tenants
What’s missing from this rhetoric is what’s happening behind the scenes.
- ALL landlords – including those with very happy tenants – are exiting the market in significant numbers
- Tax changes (including potential CGT increases) are reducing incentives to stay
- Regulatory risk is rising sharply ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act
- Compliance costs (EPC upgrades, licensing, legal exposure) are increasing
When politicians publicly position themselves as “taking on landlords”, it creates a dangerous message to “opportunist tenants” (tenants who might be encouraged to exaggerate problems to claim compensation or chase Rate Repayment Orders) and councils (to can raise revenue through landlord fines):
- Tenants are encouraged to challenge more frequently
- Councils are incentivised to enforce more aggressively
- Landlords face greater legal and financial exposure
Especially when:
👉 Tenants have little financial downside to taking action.
👉 Councils have targets to meet.
👉 Landlords carry almost all the risk.
Are policymakers solving the right problem?
There is no doubt that where poor housing exists and it should be tackled. Rogue landlords should face consequences and rising rents are a problem for the majority of tenants.
But what is causing rents to rise and/or tenants to struggle under the cost of living crisis? Contrary to the rhetoric peddled by politicians (possibly chasing voter appeal?), rising rents are not mainly driven by “rogue landlords”.
They are the result of multiple pressures converging:
- 📈 Higher interest rates increasing landlord costs
- 🛢️ Rising energy prices caused by worldwide events
- 🏗️ Chronic under-supply of housing, especially social housing
- 🏚️ Decades of underinvestment in council homes
- 🚪 Landlords exiting due to regulatory and financial risk
- ⚖️ Legislative changes shifting risk heavily onto landlords
Without addressing these root causes, policy risks treating the symptoms while worsening the disease.
If the goal is genuinely to improve outcomes for tenants, the conversation may need to shift.
Instead of:
- Framing landlords as adversaries
There may be more value in:
- Encouraging responsible landlords to stay in the market
- Supporting supply growth across all tenures
- Balancing rights with realistic risk-sharing
Because housing markets are ecosystems.
And when one side is pushed out…
👉 The whole system becomes less stable.
What landlords can do now
Property118 has launches the UK’s largest ever landlord sentiment survey They state its purpose as “understanding why, when, and under what conditions they might change course. Equally, it identifies what would give landlords the confidence to invest again.”
It is an invitation only survey but if you are invited, please respond – this is YOUR chance to talk back and report on the effects of the constant barrage.
Perhaps if enough landlords have their say, policy makers will start to listen?
Meanwhile, if you can’t wait to find out whether the initiative will have any influence on policy makers and you want to exit the PRS ahead of the Renters’ Rights act which will be enforced on May 1st, limiting landlords’ option to take back their properties, get in touch today and find out why so many landlords return to us time and time again to sell their properties.
Find out why taking a small ‘hit’ now on the price to sell to chain free buyers who are willing to secure the deal and complete in 56 days is better than being battered by policy and rhetoric for years to come.